Wrench



J.'T. HASLETT.

WRENCH.

APPLICATION men MAYI5, 1918.

'1 ,345,850, Patented July 6, 1920.

INVENTOR fldi BY 75/14. "W W ATTORNEY cairn star JOHN T. I-IASLETT, 0F WINCHESTER, KANSAS.

WRENCH.

masses.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 6, 1920.

Application filed May 15, 1918. Serial No. 234,687.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, Jenn '1. Eastern, a citizen of the United States, residing at l/Vinchester, in the county of Jefferson and State of Kansas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Wrenches, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to wrenches, and more particularly to self-adj usting wrenches.

The object of the invention is to provide a wrench of this character which is simple and strong in construction, cheap to manufacture, and has few parts to get out of order.

Another object is to so construct awrench of this character that the greater the strain exerted thereon to tighten the nut, the greater gripping force will be exerted by the wrench on the nut.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed may be made within the scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings Figure l is a side elevation of a wrench constructed in accordance with this invention,

Fig. 2 's a bottom plan view thereof, and

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section.

In the embodiment illustrated, a handle 1 is shown of any suitable material, and desired length having its front end flattened as shown at 2 and rounded on its lower ed ge and at its terminal.

A jaw 3 has a bifurcated shank, the furcations 4L of which straddle the flat end 2 of the handle and are pivoted thereto at a point spaced inwardly from its free end. The fur-cations 4L have recesses a on their lower or inner edges with shoulders 4" at the ends of said recesses for a purpose presently to be described. T his jaw 3 has a right angularly extending gripping member 5 at its free end, the inner face of which is designed to engage a nut to be tightened or loosened, its outer face being here shown beveled or inclined from its free edge inwardly. This jaw 3 is in the form of a gravity dog and is designed to cooperate with another jaw 6 which is bifurcated and the furcations 6 thereof extend at right angles from jaw 6 and straddle the front end of the flattened portion 2 of handle 1 and are pivotally connected therewith in advance of the furcations of jaw 3. This aw 6 has its inner face lying normally in the recesses a in the shank of aw 3, and is provided with a finger 6 which extends through the space between the furcations 4 of jaw 3 and operates as a guide to insure the cooperative movement of the two jaws and to prevent lateral movement. The straight edge 8 between the inner ends of the furcations of jaw 3 engaging the upper left hand corner 9 of jaw 6 actuates said aw 6.

This wrench as shown, is of a size to be used in tightening nuts on railroad tracks, but obviously it may be made of any size and used for any purpose. l

In the operation of this wrench, by simply raising up on the handle 1, the dog or pivoted jaw 3 will drop by gravity over the nut to be engaged and the cooperating jaw 6 will rise from behind the nut and securely grip it, this movement being caused by the engagement of the straight edge 8 between the inner ends of the furcations of jaw 3 with the left hand corner 9 of jaw 6. It will thus be seen that the greater the strain exerted on the wrench, the tighter it will grip the nut. It will thus be seen that this wrench is self-adjusting and while simple in construction and cheap to manufacture, will be thoroughly effective in use and will require no adjustment to adapt it to fit nuts of varying sizes.

The foregoing description and the draw ings have reference to what may be considered the preferred or approved form of my invention. It is to be understood that I may make such changes in construction and arrangement and combination of parts, materials, dimensions, etc., as may prove expedient and fall within the scope of the claimed invention.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A wrench of the class described comprising a handle, a jaw comprising a shank having a gripping element at its free end and its rear end bifurcated and straddling said handle and pivotally connected thereto at a point spaced from the terminal of the handle, a cooperating jaw bifurcated and straddling the handle in front of said first-V mentioned jaw and having a finger extend ing between the furcations' of the first-men- V tioned j aw.

2. A wrench of handle, said furcations being pivotally connected tothe handle at their free ends, ay

' right-angularly disposed nut engaging element carried'by the free end of said jaw, the furcations of said JQAV having recesses on their lower. faces With shoulders at their inner ends, a cooperating jaw pivoted to said handle in advance of theiirst-mentioned jaw with a finger projecting at right angies from 1ts upper face and extending between the furcations of the first-mentioned jaw.

a. A wrench of the class described comprising a handle, a jaw having a right-angularly CllSPOSCl gripping face at one end and its other end bifurcated and straddling the handle, being pivotally connected therewith at a point spaced from the termlnal of the handle, the inner edge of said jaw being cut.

away in advance of its pivotal connection and shouldered, another jaw L-shaped in form with its short arm bifurcated and straddling the terminal of the handle in advance of the pivotal connection of the other jaw, and pivoted to said handle, the other arm of said L-shaped jaw extending through the bifurcated end of the first-mentioned jaw in advance of its pivotal connection, said jaws having engaging faces for cooperation the class described comprising a handle,"a' aw COIIlPIlSlIlg a shank bifurcated at its rear end and straddling sald jaw will actuate the other.

isaaese whereby the movement .of one, jaw will actuate the other. 7 r

l. A wrench of the class described comprising a handle member having an L-sha'ped jaw pivoted at the free end of its short arm to the end of said handle, a cooperating L- shaped jaw pivoted at the free end of its long arm to said handle in rear of the N- otal connection of the first mentioned jaw with its short arm extending. downwardly and projecting in advance of said first mentioned jaw, said jaws having cooperating means on the edges of their pivoted arms whereby the movement of one will actuate the other. 7

51A wrench of the class described com prising a handle member having an L-shaped' in testimony whereof I afiiX my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN T. HASLETT. V

Witnesses:

O. E. EVERETT, J. M. DA IS. 

